Balanced sound, very mellow. Solid construction.

The little polk emblems on the grill look like they may fall off soon (very small complaint)

These speakers have a balanced, open sound, especially after I coupled them with a Phase Tech Octave Power 10 subwoofer. They have a pretty consistent sound at all listening levels, at least they never sound strained at higher levels. Overall, a great speaker, I paid about $370 US. Oh, and their construction is bulletproof as well. Very nice!

Additional equipment: Yamaha AX592 int amp, Yamaha EQ70 Equalizer, Teac 500 series CD, Teac 500 series Tuner. Monster cable and similar wires.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

Clear sound,tight bass,good mid range

none

Sound really great for the money. Sound better than my phase tech floor standing speakers that they are replacing and alot smaller. They are quite heavy though.I bought these on e-bay after reading the good reviews about them on this website. They may not compare to B&w or other high end speakers but are damn good

Similar Products Used:

Mirage bookshelfs, Phase technology

balanced and not fatiguing sound

none at this price

the majority of the speakers i've owned in 25 years were slowly less enjoyable over time. that's because what often draws you to a speaker at first is a detriment, not something that leads to long term satisfaction. these speakers invite you to listen for extended lengths, and ge more enjoyable with time. the highs are nice, not too smooth and not overly bright. no mid bass boom that so many other brands have. all in all the build quality and sound quality, are truly at the top in this price class.

listen for yourself........

Similar Products Used:

many

Quality build and overall sound

These are not a $1,500 speaker (no kidding)

Look, forget all the reviews you read below. Yes I know, many of the posters below offer good reviews. But they are misleading, because they are using mostly mid-grade equipment. They are doing an injustice to this product.
Recently, there was a review in Stereophile of the RT25i's, which were given very favorable reviews. At the time I was looking for a "cheap" pair of decent speakers to fill in for a second system. I went to Circuit City (where I rarely shop) to get a pair of 25's, and was pleasantly surprised to find the 35i's for 139.00 ea. (a great price - cheaper than original retail for the 25's). So I brought them home. As I always do, I put them in my "quality" system just for kicks (before putting them in the second system). OH MY GOD. These are EXCELLENT speakers. I can't believe the value here. It is an incredible shame that Polk speakers are grouped by "audiophiles" to be in the lower to mid-grade category. I have played other such speakers on my system and they sound just OK (Infinity RS series). While listening to these speakers I started questioning my good speakers even (aerial). Ultimately, I chose the aerial (model 6) all around (10 times the price!), but still I could not believe how good the Polks were.
I played these with a Rowland Concentra integrated amp, Sony SCD-777ES and Transparent cables - a very expensive system, mind you, for where the Polk's would normally find themselves, but this is the main point - put EXPENSIVE speakers with BAD electronics and guess what - they sound BAD. Put cheap speakers with great electronics and usually they just sound alright. On the other hand, here we have an incredible value, where the speakers respond wonderfully to a great system. (that means the speakers are very good too!)
If I had to survive on a smaller budget these are the speakers that would make up my system - - understand that my main point is that when you go to a place like CC or the "Good Guys," they have a bunch of decent (and lesser) stuff for decent prices - for those who don't want to go to the "Stereo Salon" to spend a month's pay, but ultimately these "cheaper" places have a "wolf in sheep's clothing" hiding among the lesser wares. I wouldn't touch the other crap - and I have listened to it. If I'm not convincing enough, just knock the speakers with your knuckles, as Polk's designer asks, and you will hear that the Polk's are much more solid (makes a big difference in sound - and cost to manufacture)
Compared to 1,000 and 2,000 dollar speakers, the Polk's may compete in many areas sonically. Overall, they are "WAY" underpriced.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, AERIAL, PARADIGM

Excellent clarity and sound

Perhaps the highs are a bit shrill but you can decrease treble and take care of that.

Good Guys have these on Sale right now for $279.00. No one will find a better speaker for the price. NO one. "The RT35i's are great on spatial and dynamic clarity,it's fast, incisive, and throws an open soundstage with highly accurate imaging." etown review 2000

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio fx/300i, RT 800i, RT 25i & CS245i.

musical and fun to listen to
pure vocal heaven
deep and wide soundstage
more efficient than most bookshelves

a little big for a bookshelf
not the ultimate in detail and precision imaging
bass seems sufficient until you add a sub and realize what you're missing

I love these Polks, they really make music fun and involving. Sure I got more detail and slightly better imaging with other speakers, but these were the most musical fun of the bunch.

You get warm, involving music and an incredibly open, deep soundstage. No you won't be able to tell what guitar pick is being used or count how many violins are in the orchestra. You get music, and you get more than enough realism to enjoy it.

The highs are smooth and never harsh or bright, the midrange is coherent if a tad muddy at high volumes. Bass is surprisingly strong for a bookshelf, but adding a sub took them to another level. You feel the bass instead of just hearing it.

If you have this speaker and are think of upgrading try these out first:

- get those speakers on steel, sand-filled stands with spikes away from the walls!
- add a quality subwoofer (the Velodyne I'm using is great)
- get better amplification, it does make a significant difference (I was using a NAD receiver, and before that an Onkyo)

Bargain of the year.

My system:
Audio Refinement Complete integrated amp
Velodyne CHT=8 subwoofer
Sony DVP-NS500V DVD/SACD/CD player
DH Labs interconnects
Analysis Plus speaker cables

Similar Products Used:

much more expensive stuff:
B&W CDM1 NT
Sonus Faber Concertino
Triangle Zephyr xs

Powerfull for its size

Bass

I am using these for my rear speakers. Just got a DVD player with DVD-A the new sounds are using the rears speakers much more then movies. So I listen to a few speakers and for the price these are fine. Well more then fine they are exceptional. If you put them closer to the wall you get better bass out of them. I have a nice variety of music on DTS and DVD-A and they perform better then expected. I recommend them for all. I hook them up to the mains just to give them a test drive and they are very good for the size and money. But for the rears these are great a nice addition to the system.

Yamaha RX-V3000 Receiver
Technics DVD-A10 player
RSL Main
Polk CS 400i center
Polk 35i rears *
YST-SW160 Sub
Yamaha CD – CDX 596
Sony VHS
Pioneer CLD-D406 LD player
Monster cable ($$$) worth it
.

Similar Products Used:

Better polks

Rich full sound in all ranges

None

These speakers perform exceptionally well for the price. They can handle soft jazz, booming rock and roll, and DVD movies with little or no distortion. I have a large living room with 20' ceilings and these speakers fill the space nicely. At under $300 in most stores there are very few speakers that can be much better for less.

Similar Products Used:

None

Smooth sound. Not tinny. very good midrange and bass response.

none really. Im happy

Like the guy said before these speakers are not audiophile grade. but for the 350 bucks for the pair they cant be beat. if you want a good sounding speaker, buy these. granted you can buy better speakers but unless youre willing to lay down a grand on a pair of speakers these are sweet speakers. Im running these and the Polk CS245 in my room off an onkyo txds494 receiver and the rocks. Plenty of bass for a bookshelf and a smooth sound through the entire speaker. awesome value

Greatimaging and developes a excellent soundstage.... very detailed speaker in HT

That I waited all this time too pick a pair up because I was a little concerned about the size of the speaker being used as fronts. Anyone who is contemplating using these speakers as mains for there setup don't hestitate any longer.esp if you are in a small - medium room!!

I have only had these speakers for 48 hours and I know it takes almost at least a month for most speakers to break in but I have watching my movies just really impressed with the overall performance of the rt35i ... paired with solid subwoofer you cant go wrong.. my system . THe Velodyne cht 8 delivers strong accurate bass without the humming (I hate that) I threw on Face off the scene when Nicholas Cage was breaking out off Prison all I can say is Imma start charging my ladies some cash when they come over to chill and watch movies at the cribb...

Denon 1601 (clean sound very smooth)
Polk rt35i (fronts)
POlk cs 245i (center)
Mirage AVS 200's (rears)
Velodyne CHT 8 (sub)
Monster cable

I know there are more expensive setups and higher level equipment out their but if you want an efficient setup and you are on a budget ( college)YOU can't go wrong with POLK Im convinced.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Cerwin vega (more suited for music) Mirage